The Man in the Box
by djk1982
Summary: The Brotherhood of Evil unleashes its ultimate weapon. But this weapon has a mind of its own, and all may fall under its rage. Some hints of a Raven and OC romance. Rated for some strong language.


Greetings once again, true believers! You're humble author has returned, with a new story, inspired by one of my favorite songs. I understand some of you are probably angry with me for not completing "The Titanic Stampede" before I started this one, and I should warn any who read this fic that it will be updated sparingly till the latter is finished. Of course, I do not own Teen Titans. However, an original character who debuts here is mine mine mine, so if you want to make use of him in any of your own fics, please ask permission first. Read on, and keep on believing!

THE MAN IN THE BOX

_I'm the man in the box  
Buried in my shit  
Won't you come and save me, save me…  
__Feed my eyes!  
__Can you sew them shut?  
Jesus Christ!  
__Deny your maker  
He who tries will be wasted  
Feed my eyes now you've sewn them shut  
_**ALICE IN CHAINS **

It was a dark night, falling over the dark place, where the dark figures moved about with a dark purpose. Slender figure leaned against the cold metal walls, arms crossed.   
"Brain must truly be desperate if he is thinking of letting this one out again." Madame Rouge said, her eyes narrowing at the thought of whom she referred.  
"I don't like it, not one bit." Immortus wheezed. "After what happened last time, how could he even possibly conceive of…"  
"Because…I can…" the artificial voice issued from the moving canister. All eyes turned to see The Brain entering, escorted as always by Mallah. "And who of you will argue it?" Immortus and Rouge were silent. After a tense moment, they followed after Brain and Mallah down the corridor.  
"Sir…" Immortus spoke up after a few moments, "I must urge you one last time not to do this. This one is too dangerous. He can't be controlled. All he knows is…"  
"He is the greatest weapon we have" Brain replied, "he has been waiting far too long. It is time to let him out again."  
"He did almost destroy the whole Doom Patrol, on his own." Rouge pointed out.  
"Yes, he's a gifted killer! But he's also rebellious, defiant. He listens to no authority, he…"  
"We all know what he is." Brain chimed in. This was met with a wall of silence by his companions. "I will control him. I have my methods."  
The group fell into silence as they wandered down the winding corridors. They eventually entered a large room, where another, larger group awaited them. There were a variety of pipes along the walls, leading up to a large metal cylinder in the center of the room.  
"Not that we don't appreciate it…" Gizmo said when the Brotherhood leadership entered, "But why did you guys spring us?" The rest of the gathered villains all nodded in agreement. Their previous failure had left them out of the Brotherhood's good graces…or so they had thought.  
"If we didn't need you, we would have let you rot in jail." Madame Rouge sneered, turning her nose up at the gathered crowd.  
"What do you need us for?" Johnny Rancid asked, hopping off his bike.  
"Insurance." Mallah growled, "In case our new plan proves unruly. It will take all of you to help us keep him in line."  
"Plan?" Mammoth said, scratching his large head.  
As if summoned by his inquiry, the metal cylinder dropped away into the floor, revealing a large hunk of ice. A soft mist began to float off it as the heat of the room caused small trickles to slither down its smooth edges. It was coated in a good layer of frost, but nonetheless, the dark shape within was clearly visible.  
"Whew, you're gonna need an awful big cup of cola for that." Billy Numerous whooped. No one laughed.  
"Let us hope he is in a good mood after eight years." Rouge muttered.  
The atmosphere grew tense as they watched the process unfold. A strange looking contraption lowered from the ceiling, stopping just above that hunk of ice. A pair of mechanical arms emerged from it, a pair of drills attached on either end. They slowly carved into the ice, tunneling toward that dark shape. After a moment, the drills withdrew, and a new pair of arms emerged, this time with long needles attached. These were pushed into the narrow tunnels, straight into that black shape.  
Immortus moved over to an elaborate control panel, and pressed several buttons. There was a soft humming sound, followed by a loud thump. Then silence. Another hum, another thump, silence.  
"He's not responding." Immortus said. There was a slight undertone to his voice, almost relieved.  
"Raise the charge." Brain commanded. Immortus sighed and pressed more buttons. There was another low hum, followed by a massive thump. The floor panels trembled slightly, and the lights flickered as the power briefly drained from the facility. And then there was silence. Silence…and a beep. Another beep, and finally a steady steady stream of them, following in repetition.  
"A heartbeat..." Immortus said, his voice trembling. He turned and looked at the dark shape within the ice. "He's alive…"  
"Get him out. Quickly." Brain ordered. If his voice were capable, it would have been urgent.  
A hot gout of steam blasted up from the floor, washing over the ice, which quickly began to vanish. It receded until finally some small details of that shape became clear. There were feet, followed by a pair of legs bent at the knees. Unclothed loins, leading up to a muscular torso. A pair of arms, curled up as if trying to warm the body. Dark hair, covering the face. A man.  
At first, there was no movement. Then, the subtle rising and falling of the chest was noticeable. Finally, the frozen man began to tremble, and slowly moved his limbs. His arms twitched and lowered, his head rolled slightly, and then finally a low, guttural grown issued from the disused throat. And he collapsed forward, curling up into a ball on the floor.  
They all stood in silence. The recently freed villains all stared, feeling confused and awed at the same time. The figure on the floor hardly looked like the secret weapon he had been tauted as; in fact, he currently looked rather pathetic. Rouge and Immortus both had slightly pensive expressions, expecting the worst, hoping for the best.  
"What are you waiting for?" Brain finally spoke up. He turned on his treads, facing Mallah. "Help him." Mallah grunted, and galloped on his feet and fists over to the prone figure. He reached out a great, hairy hand and then leashed a scream so piercing it could have shattered diamonds.  
The figure was grasping Mallah's hand, or, more appropriately, crushing it. Mallah's palm collapsed within his grasp like a lump of clay, the fingers becoming bent and crooked, resembling a fistful of twigs.  
"Keep…you're filthy paws…off of me…" a low, metallic voice issued softly.  
The gathered villains all ducked when Mallah sailed through the air, over they're heads, and straight into the call-through the wall, and into the next room over. He smacked against yet another wall, and then collapsed in a pile on the ground, blood tricking from his mouth, his nostrils, his ears. All eyes turned back onto the pale skinned strange as he slowly wobbled to his feet.  
He scanned over them, the recently freed all taking a few steps back when the icy glare turned on them. Rouge, Immortus, and Brain all stood their ground, however, and started straight back. "I was having a good dream." He finally said, sounded disgustedly resigned, "One I hoped wouldn't end."  
"Such a lovely boy." Brain said, and to those around him, it almost sounded as if that artificial voice had a touch of pride.


End file.
